First baseman Matt LaPorta’s triumphant return to the Clippers lineup was not enough to earn his team the victory as Columbus fell to the Rochester Red Wings 7-6 Thursday. LaPorta, fresh off the disabled list after undergoing off-season surgery on his left hip, went 3-4 with a home run, two singles and two RBI. Red Wings right-hander P.J. Walters (3-2, 3.60 ERA) pitched a solid game, allowing three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts in his 6.1 innings of work. Clippers left-hander T.J. House (0-1, 7.20 ERA), did not fare as well.

In today’s week ending edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the blazing hot return of Low-A Lake County outfielder LeVon Washington, what the plan is for him, and what areas he is making some strides. He also recaps Double-A Akron first baseman Chun Chen’s impressive month and looks at when and how he can be promoted to Triple-A Columbus, shares tons of comments from the front office on several position players at Akron, reviews the great Double-A debut by Will Roberts, the good recovery Tyler Holt has made after some early struggles, the growing legend of Anthony Santander, and more.

The Columbus Clippers finished their fourth week of the season capturing four wins in the six games played and now stand at 14-12 on the year. The Clippers offense has struggled in the early going as they have scored five runs or less in 20 games this season, and are 5-0 when scoring more than five runs. The best news from the week was the recovery of right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco who was hit by a line drive on April 25 against the RailRiders. Go "sailing" with Cameron Weimer in his weekly Clippers notebook...

Today is the first “stock watch” of the 2013 season for players in the Indians’ minor league system. This report is a snapshot of a few players up and down the system and how their value may be decreasing or increasing as prospects. In today's report, Tony looks at all four levels in the Indians system and touches on the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Mike McDade, Preston Guilmet, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Moncrief, Jerrud Sabourin, Jordan Smith, Dorssys Paulino, Nellie Rodriguez and more.

PAWTUCKET, RI – The Columbus Clippers are currently ranked last in the International League with a league-low 175 hits — but Tuesday was a different story. The Clippers grinded out a win against the Pawtucket Red Sox 6-5 Tuesday after 15 innings of play. The win splits the series between to the two clubs 2-2.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings this week, Tony takes a look at several pitchers throughout the organization. Right-hander Jordan Cooper has used last season’s late success as a springboard to a good start to this season and is starting to round into form as a solid pitching prospect, and he touches on where he has improved and what kind of future he may have. In addition to that he provides an update and outlook on Diasuke Matsuzaka, shares some comments made by the front office this past week on the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Austin Adams and others, and also some insight and updates on the progress of the likes of Giovanni Soto, Bret Brach, Jacob Lee, Luis DeJesus and others.

The IBI Hot List is back for another week and ranks the hot (and some cold) performances in the Indians system over the past week. Last week saw LeVon Washington return with a fury with five hits on Saturday, Diasuke Matsuzaka looked to turn a corner, Preston Guilmet is squarely on the big league radar, Jordan Cooper is rising, Cord Phelps’ struggles continue, and much more. Tony ranks the good and bad performances and provides some commentary on each player.

PAWTUCKET- In a back and forth affair between the Columbus Clippers and the Pawtucket PawSox, the Clippers lost a heartbreaker in the bottom of the ninth inning. The way things started for Columbus, it was hard to imagine them losing this game.

While the big league team was rained out, the Indians took three out of four games in the minor league circuit on Friday night. The two biggest highlights of the night came from Columbus where starter T.J. House was impressive in his Triple-A debut and Yan Gomes settled back into his everyday catching duties and raked.

Clippers starter TJ House was called up from Akron just in time to start the series finale against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, and his pitching combined with some timely Clippers offense led the way to a late 3-2 win.

The Cleveland Indians announced Friday morning that Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco suffered a deep contusion to his right elbow and forearm after being hit with a line drive on Thursday night. He is listed as day to day.

It's always good to see your first round picks leading the way down on the farm. Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor played pivotal roles in leading the Carolina Mudcats Thursday, flashing the potential that makes them both top prospects in the organization. You never want to see players hurt, however, and Cleveland saw two of their better pitchers injured in Columbus. To help make sense of all that went on, join Andrew Zajac, as he goes Around The Farm...

On a night with a somber tune, the Clippers secured their second win of the series in Scranton, beating the RailRiders 4-1.﻿ The big news from the night ended up being bad news for not only the Clippers, but the Indians organization as a whole.﻿ In the bottom of the fifth Carlos Carrasco took a line drive up the middle off of his arm and left the game immediately. Carrasco was, apparently, in a great deal of pain as he made his way to the hospital. As the injury is yet to be confirmed, the fear is that Carrasco could be out for quite a while with a somewhat serious arm issue.

Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco was struck on his right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre second baseman Corban Joseph and was removed from the game in the fifth inning of action on Thursday night. He has been taken to an area hospital for further evaluation, likely to get x-rays on his arm/elbow.

The Columbus Clippers have finished their third week of the season going 3-4 and bringing their overall record to 10-10 on the year. Through 20 games the Clippers are in third place in their division and 3.5 games behind the division-leading Indians of Indianapolis. The IBI's Cameron Weimer takes us "sailing" to get us caught up on the week that was in the weekly Clippers notebook...

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the hot start that Akron first baseman Chun Chen is off to, what has changed with his approach, and when he may get to Columbus (or Cleveland). He also has a ton of comments from the front office regarding the Columbus roster on things such as the presence of so many six-year free agents as well as the plans for Carlos Carrasco and others. Finally, he touches on the return of Austin Adams and Trey Haley, the release of Delvi Cid and who may be replacing him, the blistering bat of Jerrud Sabourin, the potential of Dylan Baker and much more.

On a cold morning in Scranton, Pennsylvania, some late inning heroics from the Clippers propelled Columbus to their tenth win of the year, defeating Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5-4. In his third start of the year for the Clippers, phenom Trevor Bauer continued his dominance of the International League.

Wednesday night was a cold and wet one in Northeast Ohio, as anyone who braved the weather to catch a ballgame can attest. Despite this, a few players found a way to overcome the weather, including Akron designated hitter Chun Chen, Columbus starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, and others. Jim Piascik was one of those who froze last night (as he watched the Aeros hold on to a 5-4 victory) and he will recap the night in the minor leagues as he takes you Around The Farm.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!